Next Level Churches
Man the response lately has been super. I'm actually glad to get in the mix now. Our turkey season just ended. God gave us above and beyond what we anticipated.
We had a total of something like 22 toms we captured on film; by that I mean, there were basically 18 kills and 4 misses. It was super. Enough to make some great footage for our ministry DVDs. And man do we have a ton of production work to do now!
So back on ministry issues for men.
When I speak of Next Level Churches, what I'm talking about is churches that are looking outside the radar. See, my beef with most churches, regardless of denomination, is that they are bound by the framework of yesteryear. I recently told a pastor that I have long been frustrated with the lack of creativity within the church. I don't think it's because all the creative people are outside God's family. It's just the opposite. When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in a believer's life, dude, that's when a person's real creative potential is finally unleashed. Creativity at its best is empowered by God Himself.
No. My feeling is that the creative people within the church are, in southern english, "skeerd." Afraid. Bound by decades of macabe preaching that God is OFFENDED by the world's ways.
Believe me when I say that more often than I care to recall I've had men who tell me they take flak for "using the world's ways to reach people." (a reference to using the outdoors to do ministry).
Recently I had a pastor friend of mine tell me that one of his church members, a woman, say to him, "There is no way you can turn a turkey hunt into a ministry opportunity." I suppose that she also feels that there is no way you can turn a basketball game into a salvation experience. Thank God Caz McCaslin, founder of Upward, never met her when he was pondering God's call to the greatest sports ministry ever founded. Thousands of kids have been saved for eternity through Upward.
I believe you should steer clear of those kind of folks. And I also believe that you should steer clear of those kind of churches. Seriously. You and I only have so many days on this planet. I cannot, for the life of me, believe that it would be God's will for your life that you waste time in a church that is, by intention, waiting for 1951 to come back around. I'm not saying this to be harsh. I'm saying it because if you want to reach men for Christ, you are going to have to invent your own road map. Because there is no road.
The one thing Outdoor Ministry Network has taught me is that God honors those who pioneer for Kingdom causes.
Bound. Tied up. Redeemed people with unredeemed imaginations. That's what's hurting us. And yet that's not you. Because you are in this conversation.
posted by Jason Cruise @ 7:11 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Jason, I'm a boomer pastor who is with Paul in bottom lining these issues under as long as Christ is preached I will rejoice; however, outdoor ministry is a limited, niche market and, frankly, is old hat. Wild game suppers, bass pro ministry guys, hunters, you-name-it, have been out there for a generation now. It appears to me, perhaps wrongly, that after a few personal experiences with such ministries that such are mainly a hobbies under the rubrick of ministry. No offense...but I'd be interested in your dissuading me of that opinion.
Anonymus,
Like Jason, I'm involved in an outdoor ministry that is geared to reach outdoorsmen. In one regard, you're right. Outdoor ministry is targeted at a certain niche. It's absurd to think that a bible study or video that uses turkey hunting or fly fishing as it's mode of communication will reach a business exec in L.A. that has never even held a gun. Does this make it limited? You bet. Does this mean that an outdoor ministry is useless? Absolutly not.
If you fish, I'm sure that you have a number of different lures that you use to catch different fish. Crankbaits for bass, stinkbait for catfish, flies for trout, etc. There's no miracle lure that catches all types of fish. In the same way, I don't think that there's one type of ministry that reaches all types of people. You have to use a lure that is appealing.
We are all members of a body that has many parts. Each part is designed for a different purpose. Some of us are geared to minister to inner-city kids. Some to golfers. Some to corporate executives. Some to outdoorsmen. All of us are using the gifts that God gave us to glorify Him and reach people in a specific niche that no one else may be equipped to reach.
Like you, I will rejoice as long as Christ is preached in whatever manner that may come. If an outdoor ministry is sharing the Gospel and bringing people to Christ, whether it's OMN or a wild game supper or whatever, I'll be happy. I always hear people say, "If it brings just one person to Christ, then it was worth it." The same thing applies here. If it brings 1 or 1 million, it's worth it.
JD Huitt
Three Timbers Outdoors
To Anonymous:
I'd have to agree that outdoor ministry is a niche market. No doubt there.
To say it's "old hat" ... my response is perhaps you aren't paying attention. If you've watched ESPN, OLN, The Men's Channel, or The Outdoor Channel, you'd know that the outdoor hunting and fishing industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. A friend of mine has one of the most popular TV shows ever in the history of the industry; it's run for more than a decade. He has 200,000 "actual" viewers per week, 52 weeks a year. And he's just one show.
Yes, wild game dinners have been around since the 1970s. Yet that constitutes about 10% of outdoor ministry to hunters. When you encompass a wholistic ministry approach targeting men who love to hunt and fish, then you have something that few churches have. I know personally that there are men coming to Christ in great numbers through churches who are gearing their approach to speak a man's language. Moreover, there are men who are extremely marginal in their spiritual development, yet believers, who are finally planting roots in churches because there is, for once, something they can connect with other than nursery work!
If I read your response right, you say that outdoor ministry is personal experiences and hobbies under the "rubrick" of ministry. I'd have to say that, while it's my opinion, you are still not paying attention.
I'd agree with JD in that outdoor ministry is not geared toward reaching a business exec. It's geared at reaching men who love to hunt and fish.
While you will never experience it I'm sure; if you were to accompany us on an adventure trip to see the "light come on" with men who have been spiritually disenfranchised for a long time, I believe you would never again say it's a hobby under the banner of minsitry.
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